Childbirth preparation classes

I love talking about birth to expectant parents, I really do. Here is more info on what I can offer in a private class, continued from my home page:

About my private childbirth classes
The foundation for what I teach comes from Bradley, The Yoga Birth Method, Fear to Freedom, Hypnobirthing, and of course lots of practical birthing experience as a doula and mother. I am certified in all of these methods except for Bradley, which is self-taught.

Classes are customized to what you would like to learn together.  We can do a one day crash course or a few days series over a few weeks. My rate for private childbirth classes at your home is $65/hour.  A minimum of four hours is recommended. You can invite one other mom/couple  at the same rate. Three or more is $75/hr. With additional people you may want to allow for additional time for the additional questions. Of course when the class  happens, we can go off the planned topics, and/or deeper into any specific topic that interests you. 

Below is a menu of topics for you to choose from. You can select what interests you and make a checklist and design your own class. I can then give you an estimate of how long I think that will take. Three hours may sound like a long time, but it can feel rushed if we don’t allow for 4 or more so that you really get to ask all your questions and really get a better understanding of all the information. I also give you some book recommendations and leave you with a bunch of hand-outs depending on what we end up doing.

Bradley • Hypnobirthing • The Yoga Birth Method • Fear to Freedom

Bradley provides a great foundation for the nuts and bolts of what to expect when you’re delivering. A one time Bradley session would be about 3 hours. The outline of the Bradley topics is as follows:

•   Exercises / Positions, and Relaxation
•   Anatomy & Physiology of Birth
•   Father / Coaches Role: Obstacles, Challenges, & Techniques
•   Massage
•   First and Second Stage Labor Techniques: Labor Rehearsals / Coaching Keys & Tools
•   Planning Your Birth
•   Variations & Complications, including Cesarean Birth
•   Postpartum Preparation (for mom and family)
•   Immediate Post-Birth Discussion (includes newborn procedures, cord clamping, skin-to-skin, and breastfeeding)
•   Newborn Care, including holds, colic tips, and early sleep tips.

Hypnobirthing is a technique that helps moms relax in labor. It is often most effective for early labor, and/or a mother who is already experienced in and confident with hypnotherapy. It also works best with a committed partner. There are many do-it-yourself hypnobirthing packages out there that you can use. You can purchase the mp3s and play them before and during your labor. We can do a guided relaxation exercise together so you can get an idea of what that is like and if you would like to practice it. That would take about 30 minutes and can be added to our class. I don’t teach it alone. There are instructors who do teach it alone.

The Yoga Birth Method is one of my favorites. This is where we really see the mind and body connection. YBM takes positions to the next level. Bradley gives you positions for comfort in labor, prenatal yoga is for your fitness in pregnancy, and YBM is for all of the above plus it is used both prenatally and during labor to really position you in such a way that eases the necessary movements the baby makes inside you to come down and out. While you are doing the positions, I am helping you practice yoga breathing and showing your partner how to use their hands to massage and enhance the opening power of the positions. The mind connection part is a whole other integral part of YBM, but you can choose to just use the asanas, positions, and not the whole method. If you choose the whole method, we do mind/spirit work identifying behaviors and patterns in yourself that you want to avoid and behaviors and alternatively patterns you want to strive to strengthen. Just learning the positions is about an hour. To learn the entire method with the mind/spirit work in addition to the physical positions would take about 2, maybe up to 3 hours. Adding in anatomy and physiology of birth and hospital interventions makes it a really complete class. That in total would be about 4-5 hours.

Last but not least is Fear to Freedom. This method is all about mind and body connection. This is a good choice for the mom who wants to go medication free, but understands it will take more than white knuckle determination. She realizes she needs some deeper introspection to uncover what emotional barriers she may have inside that may hinder her. She wants exercises and a method that will help her find her voice. This class is a series of ten classes, but each class can stand alone. Each class may take about 1-2 hours. If you would like to add in anatomy and physiology of labor, and hospital procedures/interventions, we can add that with another 2-3 hours to the class.